Yannick Meurice, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, to study the foundational aspects of quantum computing in theoretical high-energy physics.

Quantum computing is being developed in high-energy physics to better understand the physical interactions and processes at the sub-atomic level. Meurice and collaborators propose to develop theoretical methods that ultimately will be applied for studying the step-by-step aftermath of proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, the sub-atomic particle smasher that has produced discoveries significantly improving humans’ understanding of the forces and interactions that govern the universe.  As a first step, the consortium will focus on quantum computing for models of strongly interacting particles known as lattice gauge theories.

Meurice is the principal investigator of an academic consortium that includes Boston University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, Syracuse University, University of Maryland-College Park, and the University of California-Santa Barbara.